Why Can You Have a Drink When You Can't *Have an Eat

Bibliographic Data

ID2863542
AuthorsA Wierzbicka (0000-0002-6074-7865, corresponding author)
Year1982
Volume58
Issue4
Pages753
Publication date1982-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0097-8507 • E-ISSN: 1535-0665
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/413956
OpenAlexW1965023067
LanguageEN
Citations received33
References cited6

This paper argues that sentences in the have a V frame are not a jungle of idiosyncrasies, but exhibit orderly and systematic behavior, governed by strict semantic rules. These rules can be stated in precise formulae with full predictive power. Ten subtypes are singled out: each has a slightly different semantic formula, but all have a common core, which is a semantic invariant of the have a V frame. These semantic formulae, which account for differences both in acceptability (have a drink and *have an eat) and in meaning (drink and have a drink), are stated not in terms of ad-hoc features or labels, but in an independently justified semantic metalanguage based on natural language

Chemistry · Food Science · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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